Staff Reporter :
The seasons’ first nor’wester lashed the capital Dhaka and some parts of the country on Saturday afternoon.
Drizzling started in Dhaka around 3:00 pm. The sky turned dark and speedy winds blew around 4:30 pm. Dust spread all over because of high velocity wind.
The winds clocked at about 52 kilometres per hour on average across Dhaka and reached about 80 km/hr near Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, said the meteorological office.
The average rainfall in the capital was 2.4 milimetres, Shamsuddin Ahmed, director at Bangladesh Meteorological Department, told media.
Ahmed said they forecast that several moderate or strong type nor’westers with moderate rain and lightning may hit the country’s north, northeast and middle parts this month.
The nor’wester, locally known as Kalbaishakhi, was accompanied by little rainfall and it swept across Dhaka and also hit at least 11 districts, including Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Gazipur, Madaripur, Barishal, Rajbari and Faridpur.
The strong winds whipped up dust which covered most parts of the capital, affecting pedestrians. No major incidents of casualty or damage were reported so far due to the nor’wester.
Due to the nor’wester, three flights were waiting to land and four aborted departure at Dhaka Airport. Wind speed was about 30 knots, the director of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport said in a WhatsApp message.
Three flights of Emirates, Biman Bangladesh Airlines and Novo Air were waiting to land, the message added.
